Networks, such as the Internet, have become an increasingly important part of our everyday lives. Millions of people now access the Internet on a daily basis to shop for goods and services, obtain information of interest (e.g., movie listings, news, etc.), and communicate with friends, family, and co-workers (e.g., via e-mail or instant messaging).
Currently, when a person wishes to purchase a product or simply find information on the Internet, the person enters into his/her web browser a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) pertaining to a web site of interest in order to access that particular web site. The person then determines whether the product or information of interest is available at that particular web site.
When the person does not know where to go to find, for example, a desired product, the person may “search” for web sites that sell the product using a search engine. For example, suppose a person wishes to purchase a laser printer via the Internet. The person may access a web site that includes a conventional search engine. The person may enter one or more terms relating to the product, such as “laser printer,” into the search engine to attempt to locate web sites that sell that product. Searching for products or information of interest in this manner has become very popular. As such, companies often desire to have their web site(s) listed very highly in search results, thinking that a highly visible listing will result in increased sales.
Many techniques exist that allow companies to obtain a highly ranked listing. For example, some search engines allow companies to buy certain search terms. If a search query is received with those search terms, then the company that has purchased those search terms may be ranked more highly than other companies offering the same product. In other situations, a company may attempt to “trick” the search engine into listing the company's web site more highly. For example, if the search engine gives greater weight in ranking results to words used in the domain name associated with web sites, a company may attempt to trick the search engine into ranking the company's listing more highly by including desirable search terms in the domain name associated with the company's listing. As an example, assume that company A sells laser printers. Company A may attempt to use a domain name that includes the words “laser printers” so that a search engine may rank the company's listing more highly. As a result, a person searching for laser printers may not be presented with an unbiased set of results.
Therefore, there exists a need for systems and methods for improving the ranking of search results.